The last brand you would expect to talk about in 2023 would be a forgotten VHS rental chain. But here we are.

While the whole entertainment industry runs towards streaming and a limitless catalog of films on demand, we brought back a once-iconic brand to glory by doing just the opposite: celebrating the analog film experience.

And in the process, we saved a mom-and-pop shop from the discount bin of history.

The world's last Blockbuster in Bend, Oregon has achieved cult status amongst cinephiles worldwide. This rabid audience of VHS collectors, movie enthusiasts, and cinema geeks flock to the store yearly to watch old films, rent VHS Tapes, and purchase merchandise.

To the general public, however, Blockbuster is a forgotten relic of the late 20th century. And as such, this single retail location had been struggling to make ends meet.

To stay in business, Blockbuster needed to sell merchandise, and increase rentals and foot traffic — but they could no longer rely on just their hardcore fans to happen.

The goal would be to create a call to action that reached hardcore fans but created enough buzz, excitement, speculation, and intrigue that a more general audience would tune in.

And what better time to drum up excitement…than Super Bowl.

Like the cockroaches that inherit the end of the earth after us — the world's Last Blockbuster will be standing long after we're gone. And they remained that way by outwitting, outlasting, and outsmarting their competitors.

So while the world's biggest brands launched 30” TV spots during the Super Bowl, we released our commercial at the physical store on VHS, inviting the rest of the world to tune in via their Instagram channel.

We spread the word to local, national, and international media outlets, who all couldn’t believe that in 2023, a commercial was being released on VHS. Consumers were flooded with memories of visiting their local video store or even their first job working at one. It tapped into memory and connected people back with the brand in 2023.

We would collect data in the physical and digital spaces die-hard Blockbuster fans congregate around, starting with the store itself, blockbuster's social channels and then exploring more niche online communities.

Across gender, age, income and race, several learnings stood out. Fans craved an analog movie experience where they could interact with fellow community members. Fans missed those spaces where those interactions were possible. And fans feared for these spaces that were left.

We divided our audience into two groups: die-hard blockbuster mega-fans. And casual fans who may remember Blockbuster when they were spread out around the country.

We hoped that by activating our die-hard audience, speculation and intrigue would breach the general public.

Blockbuster shot their commercial on-site in Bend, Oregon using a robot cockroach purchased off the internet for $19.95. VFX were applied to make various locations around town appear post-apocalyptic and the film was transferred to an $6 VHS tape.

In the week preceding the Super Bowl key images from the film were shared on instagram and TikTok leading to speculation from fans online and inquiries from the local, national and even international press.

On the day of the Super Bowl, the VHS tape was streamed live from the store and made available for rent. After the game a digital copy was shared with fans and press.

The conversation around Blockbuster & the World’s Last Store blew up across mainstream media outlets, garnering over 2 Billion Media Impressions in over 100+ placements; all accomplished with $0 spent.

The film would play on dozens of local and national news organizations, ultimately reaching 9X the audience of the actual Super Bowl and appearing in multiple game-day best-of lists despite never airing on television.

In re-launching this iconic brand with a "Super Bowl" commercial on VHS, the store would see a 1700% lift in online sales. Foot traffic, merchandise and rental orders would increase so much the store had to double its staff to fulfill orders on one of the busiest weeks in the store’s history.